The present invention relates to a cluster type tag pin assembly and, more particularly, to a cluster type tag pin assembly in which tag pins are arranged on a connecting bar in contact with adjacent ones at least at the side surfaces of the cross bars.
Tag pins are used widely for securing price cards or labels to goods to be sold. The known tag pin is constituted by a head portion 1, cross bar 2 and a filament portion 3 interconnecting the head 1 and the cross bar 2, as will be understood from FIG. 1. Generally, the tag pin has a very small size. For instance, the diameter and length of the cross bar are 0.8 to 1.0 mm and 8 to 10 mm, respectively. The width, height and the thickness of the head portion are 8 to 10 mm, 3 to 5 mm and 0.7 to 1.0 mm, respectively. The length of the filament portion differs depending on the uses but usually ranges between 7 mm and 125 mm after the elongation. The minimum diameter of the filament portion after the elongation is 0.3 to 0.4 mm. These tag pins generally have a weight per pin between about 0.04 and 0.1 g, and are thus very fine in thickness.
Due to reasons concerning the production, packing, transportation and attaching to goods, 25 to 50 pieces of tag pins are assembled in a single group and are connected through connecting necks 4 to a common connecting bar 5 at a right angle to the latter to form a tag pin assembly P. This tag pin assembly P is formed unitarily from a thermoplastic resin such as nylon, polypropylene and the like of which molecules can comparatively easily undergo reorientation.
In ordinary tag pin assembly, the diameter of the cross bar 2 and the thickness of the head portion are about 1 mm, respectively, due to reasons concerning the fabrication of the mold. The cross bars 2 are arranged on the connecting bar 5 at a pitch of about 2 mm. This means that the distance between the cross bars of adjacent tag pins and the distance between the head portions of the adjacent tag pins are about 1 mm. In the tag pin assembly P having a multiplicity of tag pins p arranged at intervals, it is often experienced that the assemblies are entangled with each other with the head portions of one assembly jammed in the row of head portions of the other assembly or caught between the cross bars of the other assembly, during the packing or transportation of the assemblies.
The filament portion 3 of the tag pin assembly is usually drawn so that the minimum diameter is as small as about 0.35 to 0.4 mm. Thus, the filament portion is very thin and delicate. Therefore, if the tag pin assemblies are entangled with each other, a troublesome work is required to loosen and release the entangling.
Further, with such tag pin assemblies in which individual tag pins are arranged at relatively large intervals, even if an entanglement does not occur among tag pin assemblies, it often occurs even in a single tag pin assembly that head portions become out of an orderly arrangement and/or intertwined.
Particularly, with a tag pin assembly in which a great number of tag pins are arranged at relatively large intervals on a relatively long connecting bar, for example the connecting bar may be bent, and then crossbars of adjacent individual tag pins do not undergo contacting with each other, whereby the tag pin assembly is as a whole in a condition of being bent with ease. To avoid easy bending of the tag pin assembly, it is indispensable to make the connecting bar having a great thickness.
Therefore, in loading in an attachment device such a tag pin assembly of which individual pins are coarsely arranged and in applying tag pins one by one through merchandise, it occurs each time when the attachment device is operated that the tag pin assembly is as a whole caused to swing back and forth as shown in FIG. 2, or it tends to occur that tag pins of the assembly are permitted to move individually independently, whereby various difficulties are encountered: The attachment device cannot be operated at a desirable high efficiency. The tag pin is wrongly driven to have merchandise hooked by the same, whereby the merchandise, for example a fabric product made of a fine fiber yarns, is permitted to undergo damages such as yarn cut, fray, tear and/or the like.
Further, to provide large intervals between each adjacent tag pins as before mentioned means that the number is accordingly limited of tag pins which can be formed on connecting bars of a constant length.
For instance, assuming here that the pitch of the cross bar 2 is 2 mm, only 50 pieces of tag pins can be mounted on a single connecting rod having a length of 100 mm.
Therefore, in the tag pin assembly having a large pitch of tag pins, it is necessary to employ a mold of a large size in order to produce a tag pin assembly having a given number of tag pins. The aforementioned problems of entanglement occurs in addition to this inconvenience.
In order to overcome the problem of entanglement, it has been proposed to connect the heads of the tag pins by means of connecting string. This connecting string is stretched when the tag pin driven into the goods is severed and remains on the surface of the head portion of the tag pin in the form of a "whisker"-like projection.
For instance, in the case of a tag pin made of nylon, the connecting string is stretched to have a length which is 4 to 5 times as large as the original length before it is broken. In consequence, "whisker" of considerable length remains on the surface of the head portion of the tag pin.
Tag pins are used for attaching price tags to various kinds of goods. In the case of goods woven from fine yarns, the "whisker" hitches on the yarns to cause a cutting or fray of yarn.
The conventional tag pin assembly having, for example, 50 tag pins arranged at 2 mm pitch on a connecting bar of 100 mm long is rocked or swung as illustrated in FIG. 2 when it is loaded in an attachment device not only to deteriorate the efficiency of operation of the attachment device but also to cause the cutting or fray of yarns of the goods as stated above.
Thus, in the prior art, the problem of entanglement of tag pins is avoided by the use of a connecting string interconnecting the head portions. The use of the connecting string, however, imposes a new problem of generation of "whisker" due to elongation of the connecting string, resulting in a breakage of the goods. In addition, there still is a demand for a large-size mold for shaping the tag pin assembly.